(no subject)

School is about to take over my life. More specifically, ceramics will.

This is a GOOD thing.

I've been missing wheel-work something fierce. The first project is on "Serialism" - or, short version, make LOTS of somethings. Seeing as how my plan tends to try to combine spiral pattern shifts, cellular reproduction (There's a reason I'm trying to make totally round cups as the base pieces) and the mutations of the folk process, I could run out three quarters of the clay I've made to date on this alone.

I've thrown over ten cups. Even if they all survie, I'm less than halfway through.

And It's wonderful.

And I'm already trying to figure out how to do the second project, which is supposed to be mixed media. See, the professor made a passing comment when talking about the different media one could incorporate that he couldn't really see a way to combine ceramics with Dancing.

And my brain went, "You can't? Betcha I can..."

(There's a hint in this. No, really, there is.)

Rrrargh. Well, since the music and ceramics installation would probably warrant more monetary cost, and dancing would in fact warrant me getting into more shape faster...

I've also been contemplating my writing goals, especially in the wake of the other part of this week's news, that being the passing of Robert Jordan.

The works I've begun or even finished drafts of that are the most feasibly commercial are not the ones currently nibbling at my brain. This is not because they are things I started thinking, "Ooh, look, I get this published first, it'll help." They're ideas I like with characters I like. But the ones pulling at me most strongly are long complex weirdnesses. On the other other hand, there's no work I can't get into to some degree, none that would be a painful slog, although some would require me to tell another character to shut up and let me finish this story first.

Right now I feel like I have a handful of choices.

Keep following the muse's loudest leads, which are mostly (Not exclusively) into Bird of Dusk, which has had such a complete overhaul that I'm back to the fat wordy draft stage. Which means Not liable to be ready for a Long Time Yet.

Try and get back into one of the more commercial endeavours, even though the muse is trying to say they can wait. To get it ready sooner. Arguing with the muse tends to slow production down some, but not as much as you'd think. She's easily distracted, too, so if there's a Shiny Thing in the current book (And there'd better be a few Shiny Things in every book) I can usually use it to get her more on board than otherwise.*

Or put a hold on the writing of new draft, since my writing time is severely curtailed by ceramics and life, and do the edits based on the Raising the Storm critiques, so as to have a finished work ready to send out. I really do think, in the wake of the last crits, that it would be a final run before the send out.

This sounds like the most immediately productive, as getting something into shape to send out puts me visibly closer to publication. OTOH, as Sherwood said and I've thought for some time, I'm not so sure that's the best first novel material. It's long, which is a bad thing for a first timer, and more so in the current market than even as recently as Y2K. It's also complex, and the setting isn't connected to enough familiar tropes to make for easy access (Neil Gaiman may have felt ready to throw aside "C. S. Lewis's dictum that to write about how odd things affect odd people was an oddity too much", but he already had a well established and bestselling career...)

But part of me wants something novel-length done now. Even though I know it needs the time.

For tonight, i finish this nasty morning after confrontation with poor Finno.


*Most of you probably don't play on the Wii much, so it won't mean much to you to say that the first time I saw Colin playing the latest of the Zelda stories, I thought Midna acted rather like my muse, especially the nagging me to get to the cool bit I know perfectly well is coming next and am already working towards. Now I'm playing it myself, the feeling is reinforced.

(no subject)

School is about to take over my life. More specifically, ceramics will.

This is a GOOD thing.

I've been missing wheel-work something fierce. The first project is on "Serialism" - or, short version, make LOTS of somethings. Seeing as how my plan tends to try to combine spiral pattern shifts, cellular reproduction (There's a reason I'm trying to make totally round cups as the base pieces) and the mutations of the folk process, I could run out three quarters of the clay I've made to date on this alone.

I've thrown over ten cups. Even if they all survie, I'm less than halfway through.

And It's wonderful.

And I'm already trying to figure out how to do the second project, which is supposed to be mixed media. See, the professor made a passing comment when talking about the different media one could incorporate that he couldn't really see a way to combine ceramics with Dancing.

And my brain went, "You can't? Betcha I can..."

(There's a hint in this. No, really, there is.)

Rrrargh. Well, since the music and ceramics installation would probably warrant more monetary cost, and dancing would in fact warrant me getting into more shape faster...

I've also been contemplating my writing goals, especially in the wake of the other part of this week's news, that being the passing of Robert Jordan.

The works I've begun or even finished drafts of that are the most feasibly commercial are not the ones currently nibbling at my brain. This is not because they are things I started thinking, "Ooh, look, I get this published first, it'll help." They're ideas I like with characters I like. But the ones pulling at me most strongly are long complex weirdnesses. On the other other hand, there's no work I can't get into to some degree, none that would be a painful slog, although some would require me to tell another character to shut up and let me finish this story first.

Right now I feel like I have a handful of choices.

Keep following the muse's loudest leads, which are mostly (Not exclusively) into Bird of Dusk, which has had such a complete overhaul that I'm back to the fat wordy draft stage. Which means Not liable to be ready for a Long Time Yet.

Try and get back into one of the more commercial endeavours, even though the muse is trying to say they can wait. To get it ready sooner. Arguing with the muse tends to slow production down some, but not as much as you'd think. She's easily distracted, too, so if there's a Shiny Thing in the current book (And there'd better be a few Shiny Things in every book) I can usually use it to get her more on board than otherwise.*

Or put a hold on the writing of new draft, since my writing time is severely curtailed by ceramics and life, and do the edits based on the Raising the Storm critiques, so as to have a finished work ready to send out. I really do think, in the wake of the last crits, that it would be a final run before the send out.

This sounds like the most immediately productive, as getting something into shape to send out puts me visibly closer to publication. OTOH, as Sherwood said and I've thought for some time, I'm not so sure that's the best first novel material. It's long, which is a bad thing for a first timer, and more so in the current market than even as recently as Y2K. It's also complex, and the setting isn't connected to enough familiar tropes to make for easy access (Neil Gaiman may have felt ready to throw aside "C. S. Lewis's dictum that to write about how odd things affect odd people was an oddity too much", but he already had a well established and bestselling career...)

But part of me wants something novel-length done now. Even though I know it needs the time.

For tonight, i finish this nasty morning after confrontation with poor Finno.


*Most of you probably don't play on the Wii much, so it won't mean much to you to say that the first time I saw Colin playing the latest of the Zelda stories, I thought Midna acted rather like my muse, especially the nagging me to get to the cool bit I know perfectly well is coming next and am already working towards. Now I'm playing it myself, the feeling is reinforced.